[obol] albertensis race of California Gull

[Phil Pickering]

Judging by the image with the Westerns, I see hundreds, if not
thousands of Cals around this size and adult mantle shade annually,
with the highest density associated with fall storms, but also 
including some spring adults and some over-summering subadults.

I don't know if these birds constitute large-end californicus-range
birds (there appears to be a cline in size) or if they are truly from
albertaensis breeding range, but in my experience very large Cals with
mantle shade approaching Herring Gull are not rare at all on the
immediate coast, particularly in fall.

Phil
philliplc at charter.net


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Owen Schmidt" <oschmidt at att.net>
To: "OBOL" <obol at lists.orst.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 9:40 PM
Subject: [obol] albertensis race of California Gull


> 
> 
> Click on this link for photos of 3 California Gulls we saw at the  
> south jetty of the Coquille River on 8 October 2007, which we believe  
> are the large and pale-mantled albertensis race.  We  request  
> comments and information about other records of this subspecies in  
> Oregon:
> http://web.mac.com/olschmidt/albertensis/Home.html
> 
> oschmidt at att.net
> Tuesday, October 9, 2007